Chapter 245: Embodiment of Steel

"Your soul is already mine."

The death knight's tone is flat, as if describing a trivial matter, making one not dare to doubt whether he can actually do it.

Lei En's expression remains calm, though inside he is somewhat flustered.

This is the most powerful enemy he has ever faced, more dangerous than the time he met Master Luin on the deserted island; a single misstep could cost his life.

The death knight's oppressive presence feels far greater than Master Luin's.

At this moment, the two are less than thirty meters apart, and he sees the death knight's soul more clearly.

And the elements within it.

Among the four supreme elements, the most powerful is undoubtedly "Steel Soul"; Lei En has seen it in the Book of Thousand Souls, and because it differs from "Steel Body" by only one character and has a similar effect, it left a very strong impression.

Steel Soul allows its holder to abandon the flesh, merging soul with steel to forge a hard shell, becoming a Steel Avatar!

Such a Steel Avatar surpasses the Steel Body in every way.

The difference is that Steel Soul is an innate element that cannot be enhanced, whereas Steel Body has higher potential; after fusion it remains a living person, with room for further growth.

The Steel Avatar does not affect the effects of other elements; it is no different from a normal superhuman—so long as the soul endures, it is nearly immortal, gaining a long life in another form.

Because it has abandoned the flesh, it is no longer human.

This counts as a drawback of Steel Soul.

However, for the death knight it matters not; its body is already a walking corpse, no different from the dead.

The massive armor before him is actually an empty shell, or rather, the armor is merely a vessel for the death knight's soul!

Nevertheless, its power is undeniable.

The other three supreme elements are not as terrifying as Steel Soul, but they are not far behind, especially the tenth‑level Strength, which is truly unstoppable.

All along, Lei En has taken pride in his power, favoring "subduing others with force."

Now facing an enemy whose strength crushes his own makes him very wary and troubled; he dares not confront head‑on as recklessly as before.

Lei En maintains a defensive stance, does not strike first, and seeks to stall.

The death knight's gaze passes over him, looking toward the tower entrance, where Extreme Warriors are still firing, maintaining a crossfire net to block the Undead Army's advance.

Its eyes flicker briefly.

Then it strides forward; the heavy steel shell does not hinder its speed, covering three to four meters in a single step, swinging its massive hammer toward the tower entrance like a high‑speed steam train, ignoring Lei En blocking the path, seemingly intending to crush him.

A terrifying pressure crashes onto him.

Lei En wants to dodge, but he cannot.

Because the tower entrance lies behind him, if he steps aside, the Extreme Warriors would face this dreadful foe directly, and the crossfire net would collapse instantly.

Aoxiliya and the Extreme Warriors would be slaughtered cleanly.

Lei En shows no hesitation.

He raises the Thunder Hammer, faces the death knight, sprints a few meters, and launches a charge!

Whoosh…

The scenery on both sides of his view reels back like lightning; the distance between them shrinks instantly, and Lei En unleashes all his power, gathering it onto his hammer to strike the death knight's helmet.

"Hmph."

The death knight reaches out, and a dark‑green giant claw formed of death energy shoots out, latching onto Lei En.

During the charge, Lei En notices an element in its soul flare up—Death Grip—and prepares a countermeasure in advance.

He lightly taps the ground beneath his feet, altering the charge's direction.

Death Grip brushes past him, Lei En surges forward, his hammer slams onto the death knight's head, simultaneously triggering Thunder Heavy Strike; dozens of bolts of lightning erupt, coursing over the entire armor.

Bang!

Amid the flashing electric light, the massive Steel Avatar is knocked to one side.

It reacts extremely quickly, its hind legs bracing the body to regain balance; the stone floor cracks into pieces, and it does not forget to counterattack, swinging its right‑hand hammer in a sweeping arc.

A terrifying whooshing sound erupts.

Lei En dares not meet it head‑on; even a Steel Body struck by it would be hard to endure.

A crack—Electric Flash Teleport.

Lei En transforms into a bolt of lightning to evade, his two‑handed hammer slams into empty ground, the earth trembles, and a torrent of dark‑green flame sweeps the surroundings again; the flame spreads far beyond the range of Electric Flash Teleport, instantly interrupting Lei En's spell.

He just manages to appear in a disheveled state when a giant claw flies in, seizing his entire body.

Death Grip!

Lei En, unable to move, is involuntarily pulled toward the death knight, landing in front of it.

Suspended in mid‑air with nowhere to leverage, he cannot break free; Lei En watches helplessly as the death knight's twin hammers crash down, wheel‑sized heads pounding his chest.

The instant of impact, several elements in the death knight's soul flare up simultaneously.

Destruction Heavy Hit!

Profane!

Power Burst!

Weak Ability!

The runes on the hammer are also triggered, and the massive death force erupts like flame, enveloping the whole body, while an evil aura seeps into the mind, attempting to devour the soul's power.

The three‑ringed thorn electric armor materializes, but it is as fragile as paper; the retaliatory lightning it generates has no effect on the hammer.

Puff!

Lei En's chest caves in, his mouth gapes, spouting a torrent of fresh blood that splatters several meters away.

His whole body is hurled like a struck baseball, flying dozens of meters, crushing a horde of undead creatures along the way; upon landing, it carves a deep trench in the ground and finally embeds into a mound of corpses like a small hill, silencing all sound.

The death knight lands a successful hammer blow, yet no hint of joy appears in its eyes.

Instead, it oddly glances at its own hammer, tilts its head to contemplate, because the impact sensation from the hammer feels off, and it failed to absorb the soul's power.

But now is not a time to delay.

The Death Knight, at a speed ill‑suited to its massive frame, surged up the steps, leapt high again, ignored the bullets striking it, and slammed down with all its might.

A layer of translucent force field blocked it.

Ao Xiliya let out a scream, desperately channeling mana to sustain resistance against the force field.

But in the face of an absolute power gap, no matter how hard she tried it was futile; the Death Knight's massive war hammer struck the field, death energy erupted, and within a breath the force field collapsed.

The solid force field vanished like a bubble.

Ao Xiliya's eyes turned white, blood streamed from her nostrils, and her limp body collapsed to the ground.

The Death Knight surged forward like a breaking bamboo, its war hammer continued its downward strike, intending to crush Ao Xiliya; the legendary iridescent dragon's mind was hazy, its reaction lagged, and it couldn't revert to its draconic form in time.

She was about to die beneath the hammer.

A ferocious roar rang out.

Marquis Jiliu Suonasi, eyes reddened, charged forward wielding a great axe; Xika Liusi and Ao Tuo, two newly promoted legendary Extreme Warriors, also fired their machine guns and brandished great swords to charge.

The three towering figures arrived almost simultaneously.

Clang!

The Death Knight's two‑handed war hammer was caught by a great axe and two great swords, leaving it momentarily stunned.

The war hammer's attached "Death Annihilation" could not be triggered consecutively in a short span; having just been used to break the resisting force field, no "Flame of Death" erupted, sparing Suonasi and the two legendary Extreme Warriors from being burned.

The "Soul‑devouring Technique" also did not activate because the hammer missed the body.

Even so, the three were hammered so hard they could barely breathe, as if a mountain were bearing down on them.

Suonasi had already unleashed a double berserk, his skin flushed red, the veins on his neck bulging, his strength nearing level eight.

Xika Liusi and Ao Tuo each possessed strength at level seven.

The three combined their efforts, barely blocking the Death Knight's two‑handed war hammer, but against ten‑level strength they still struggled.

The Death Knight pressed down with both hands, gradually forcing the hammer downward.

"Ah…"

Suonasi's eyes were bloodshot, his eyeballs nearly bursting, and he let out a strained roar.

The two legendary Extreme Warriors also held on rigidly; their great swords were of average quality, the blades bent under pressure, the webs of their gripping hands split open, blood streaming from their hands.

Even though they gave their all without any reservation, they could not stop the hammer's descent.

The hammer was unstoppable, about to crush Ao Xiliya.

At that moment, a booming sound rang out.

In the nearby pile of undead corpses, hundreds of bolts of lightning erupted, like chains linking the surrounding undead, turning them to ash.

Lei En lifted his war hammer, rose, saw the situation on the steps, let out a roar, and hurled the Lightning Hammer with all his might.

Whoosh!

The war hammer sliced through the air, its whistling sound alerting the Death Knight, which turned its head a half‑step too late.

The over‑one‑thousand‑pound Lightning Hammer struck the Death Knight's helm, causing it to stagger, and the three of Suonasi's two‑handed war hammers were instantly released.

Suonasi seized the opportunity, triggered a level‑three power burst, and flipped the Death Knight off the steps.

He swung the "Ogre Slayer" and roared, "Reverse Slash!"

The epic great axe cleaved three curved blades, all striking the Death Knight, but they were blocked by a layer of blood‑colored iron armor.

Xika Liusi and Tuo Ao also desperately swung their great swords to attack.

Clang‑clank—a chaotic series of sounds.

The Death Knight's "Iron‑blood Armor" was slashed, sparks flying, and it rolled on the steps, looking a bit disheveled, yet the armor remained incredibly sturdy; its steel incarnation suffered no real damage.

Meanwhile, Lei En sprinted forward; the "Electric Absorption Ring" on his right wrist emitted a bolt of lightning that linked with the Lightning Hammer, like a chain pulling the war hammer back into his hand.

"Everyone back!"

Lei En shouted a warning.

He knew the Death Knight's terror well; once it rose, Suonasi and the other two would surely suffer casualties.

Xika Liusi and Ao Tuo placed absolute trust in Lei En and retreated without hesitation, while Suonasi, eyes blood‑red, lost some reason in his frenzy, swinging wildly.

The Death Knight's "Iron‑blood Armor" is a supreme Element, impossible to shatter so easily.

Even a level‑twelve berserker was in vain.

(End of Chapter)